News, observations and reader questions about the Sacramento Kings and the NBA.

January 12, 2014

The Kings pulled an about-face this morning ahead of their 3 p.m. game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, announcing they had assigned guard Ray McCallum to the Reno Bighorns of the Development League and then rescinding the assignment an hour later.

Head coach Michael Malone just explained the reasoning behind the move (or non-move), first clarifying that McCallum hadn't actually left the team today before they decided to keep him around for the game.

"He's like Elvis -- he never left the building," Malone said.

"We're playing a team that likes to play a lot of small ball," Malone continued. "They'll play three ball-handling guards out there at times with Jarrett Jack, Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving, so (we) just felt why not have Ray around today in a game that he might be able to play in."

Malone, who added that McCallum is "probably one of our better perimeter defenders," did make it sound like the first-year guard will be headed to the D-League soon. He has one previous stint in Reno this season, averaging 22 points in three games between Nov. 21 and 27.